I want to buy my boyfriend the basics so he can start homebrewing.....I bought him the cheapo Mr. Beer kit a few years back and he seemed to enjoy it. I now want to step it up. He generally likes lighter beers....grolsch's, pale ales, hefeweizen's, lagers. Can someone help me, help him brew good beer. What's the basics I need to get him????
This looks like a really good, and cheap starter kit. Should have everything you need for the foreseeable future. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006ZECXJ6...e=asn&creative=395109&creativeASIN=B006ZECXJ6
Well at minimum 5 gallon. I'd go bigger right away to be able to do full boils, at least 7 gallons. It's worth the initial cost to not have to buy another one later if he really enjoys brewing his own beer.
I started off with a similar kit and it's a good foundation for both the (easier to make) extract kit beers and still useful with (more advanced) home-grown recipes. I would recommend one of these kits just to get a lot of the stuff you might not initially think about all at once. The brew kettle is not included, nor is a heat source, and you will find that getting 6+ gallons of liquid to boil will require either a really hot stove indoors, or an outdoor propane burner. Full kettle boils are highly recommended for the best home brewing results, and you will want the capacity to make the home brewing standard 5 gallon batch (this means an initial volume of 6+ gallons due to evaporation during the boil, plus some extra space to head off a boil-over). You can always put less in a bigger pot at first, but if you end up enjoying the hobby you will almost immediately want to be able to boil 6+ gallons at a time.
Already ordered everything and a few beer mix kits so he should be brewing in a few weeks! Thanks so much...you guys rock. I'm starting him out with a pilsner and hefeweizen.....can't wait to turn him into a homebrewing geek!
The extract kits are fun and can make pretty fine beer. I expect once he starts, you both will enjoy it, too! Enjoy, and good luck!
Consider also clueing your 'geek' into this website http://www.howtobrew.com/ for John Palmer's book How to Brew or buying him the book that is a later edition of the online book. This book will give the 'geek' everything he needs to know and understand about the brewing process.
I would get an 8 gallon pot so he can do full volume boils. Aluminum is fine. I bought mine a few years ago on Amazon for less than $40 and I still use it. And "How to Brew" is a must first brewing book.
So much bullshit...where to start? 6 gallons! 7 gallons! 8 gallons! Propane burners! Standards! As if.
We get one of these threads about every 7-10 days. Don't let that stop you from asking questions as vague as what kind of gear you will want to buy to specific questions about gravities or ingredients in your first recipe. I usually see about a dozen people willing to throw in $.02.
